A Wisconsin man demanded video evidence from a 14-year-old girl accusing her adoptive father of raping her in Tennessee, telling the teen he “couldn’t risk getting in trouble” without proof, court records show.
“I know you don’t want to do it,” read one message sent by Bryan Rogers, 31, according to court records cited by the Knoxville News Sentinel. “But we need clear video evidence … you understand that I can get in a hell of a lot of trouble.”
Rogers and the teen first started chatting on an online gaming platform called Roblox on Dec. 24. The conversation then moved onto Facebook and an encrypted messaging app, where the girl living in Madisonville, Tennessee, told Rogers that her adoptive father, Randall Pruitt, had been molesting her, court records show.
“I can’t just stay here,” the teen wrote. “If u don’t help me somehow I might as well kill my [expletive] self like I’ve been planning to do.”
But Rogers was undeterred, telling the teen that he couldn’t “risk getting in trouble” for a virtual stranger.
“If you can get that video I can get you out of there but without it you will just wind back up with [him] and I’ll be in trouble,” another message reads. “He’s been molesting you for 12 years. If that’s not enough of a reason to get the video then idk what else to tell you.”
Rogers even took time to instruct the teen on how to capture the alleged sexual abuse, telling her during chats to hide a cellphone in her room before the next assault, according to a federal arrest warrant obtained by the newspaper.
“That way when he comes for you it’s already recording and you don’t have to worry about anything,” one message reads. “And I can’t help you if we don’t have foolproof leverage against [him].”
The girl, according to federal prosecutors, complied with Rogers’ demand. Investigators later found a 7-minute video created on Jan. 10 that was saved on computers belonging to Rogers that depicted an adult male raping the girl, BuzzFeed News reports.
Rogers then drove nearly 800 miles to Tennessee after receiving the footage and brought the teen back to Wisconsin. He took extreme care to avoid being detected by authorities, using secondary highways and avoiding gas stations and their security cameras, court records show.
Rogers also took steps to destroy evidence in the case, destroying both of the girl’s phones, warrants show. Investigators, however, were able to recover footage of the alleged rape with help from an internet provider, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports.
Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones told reporters earlier this month that the teen — last seen on Jan. 11 — was in “good health” after she was found safe at Rogers’ home in Madison on Thursday. The teen had just moved back to Tennessee from Georgia in December.
“It’s like having your soul ripped out of your body,” the teen’s father, Randall Pruitt, said last week. “You can’t think, you can’t eat, you can’t sleep, you can’t rest — life has just ceased for us since she left.”
Pruitt, 41, who has since been charged with rape, made his initial court appearance Tuesday in Monroe County. Rogers could appear before a judge as soon as Thursday in Madison, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. If convicted of sexual exploitation of a child, Rogers faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison.
The girl, meanwhile, has since returned to Tennessee, but is no longer living with her family, WKRN reports.
